A WORLD GONE MAD
A Progressive Liberal News Podcast
Veteran Television, and Radio Broadcaster Jeff Alan Wolf offers his Observations on the issues (many issues) of the week with a fearless liberal bent. His solid delivery, and dry common sense approach sets him apart from other liberals that populate Talk and Commentary Podcasts”
Jeff Does NOT Pull Punches.
He does NOT Make comments that are “SAFE”.
He tells the Truth.
(He Tells It As He Sees It)
He Is Very OPINIONATED!
He says the things Out Loud YOU’RE
already thinking.
Jeff is Unfiltered, Unspun, A little Unhinged, but offers a lot of Common Sense.
This Podcast could make you MAD.
This Podcast could make you SMILE.
Regardless, it WILL make you THINK!
A WORLD GONE MAD
FTC VS META, Married Women VS SAVE, Trump VS Mail Ballots, Addictive Scrolling and How To STOP!
The political landscape continues to shift dramatically as Meta faces a potential breakup in an FTC antitrust trial, while voter suppression tactics threaten the fundamental right to vote through new legislation and executive orders.
• Meta's antitrust trial began Monday, potentially forcing the breakup of its $1.4 trillion business
• The FTC argues Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were part of an illegal "buy-or-bury" strategy
• Zuckerberg has been currying favor with Trump through donations, policy changes, and Mar-a-Lago visits
• The SAVE Act could create voting hurdles for 69 million married women whose names don't match birth certificates
• Trump's executive order threatens hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots by prohibiting counting after Election Day
• Clinical psychologist Diana Hill and movement specialist Kathy Bowman have six practical strategies to break free from unhealthy social media habits. I share them with you.
Please take a minute out of your day to send me a text, an email, or a voice message. Without your comments, feedback, and engagement, I'm sitting in a room talking to myself.
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
This is a World Gone Mad. This is a World Gone Mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. This is a World Gone Mad. I'm Jeff Allen Wolf. I give my commentary on national and world news and politics. Welcome to the Resistance. I'm going to start this episode with a story about social media and I'm going to end this episode with a story on social media, and I'm going to end this episode with a story on how to cope with social media. This is a long episode, so get a drink and a snack. Here we go.
Speaker 1:The biggest trial in Meta's history started Monday. Here's what to know. The Federal Trade Commission's blockbuster antitrust case against Meta kicked off on Monday in a courtroom in Washington. It's the culmination of a nearly six-year investigation into whether the social media giant broke competition laws in acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp. At stake is the future Meta's $1.4 trillion advertising business and the prospect of having to spin off its usually popular services in separate companies A corporate breakup the likes of which has not been seen since AT&T's telephone monopoly was forced to split apart more than 40 years ago Now. Lawyers for the FTC and Meta delivered opening statements Monday before US District Judge James Boasberg in a trial expected to stretch for seven to eight weeks.
Speaker 1:What is the FTC's case against Meta? Well, the FTC argues that when Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp two years later, that it was part of a strategy to eliminate competition and maintain monopoly power over the social media market. The government contends that a buy-or-bury strategy propelled Meta's acquisitions, leading Meta to gobble up competitors it viewed as threats or to squash the rivals out of business altogether. In a 2012 internal email government lawyers planned to present, zuckerberg wrote that buying Instagram was motivated by a desire to neutralize a potential competitor. The FTC says this alleged behavior is illegal under federal antitrust laws. Now Meta counters that it is being punished for being an innovative and aggressive tech company. It has always competed fairly, meta lawyers say, and regulators are attempting to punish the tech titan's runaway success. Lawyers for Meta have also said in court filings that the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were approved by regulators more than a decade ago.
Speaker 1:What would it mean for users of Facebook, instagram and WhatsApp if Meta was forced to break up? Well, the FTC says it would mean more robust competition among social media startups and therefore better quality services for everyone. Government lawyers argue that Meta's services have degraded in quality, in part because of its dominant position in the marketplace. Regulators also say Meta's privacy protections have lapsed as a result of his alleged monopoly status. Now to the FTC. A breakup would translate into a more vibrant social media landscape where new upstarts can go toe-to-toe with Meta's apps. But Meta contends the opposite that a breakup would make each of its individual apps less integrated and worse for consumers after many years in which meta systems and data have become entwined.
Speaker 1:What about the politics of this case? How does CEO Mark Zuckerberg's relationship with Trump play into this trial? Well, this case first started in Trump's first term in December 2020. That's when Trump still had a bitter feud with Zuckerberg, but the two have been less confrontational of late. Before he won the November election, trump threatened to throw Zuckerberg in prison, saying if Zuckerberg's platforms did anything to hurt Trump's chance on the campaign trail, he would spend the rest of his life in prison. Like many other executives in Silicon Valley, zuckerberg has recently been ingratiating himself with the Trump administration. Now Zuckerberg has publicly praised Trump. He donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee, he agreed to pay Trump's $25 million to settle a suit that Trump filed for being suspended from Facebook and Instagram in the wake of January 6th, and he's made company-wide shifts that align with Trump's priorities, like ending Facebook and Instagram's fact-checking program and rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Zuckerberg has also made visits to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, reportedly to lobby the president to drop the case.
Speaker 1:Now there have been speculation that Trump could abandon the trial, settle with Meta, but so far all indications point to the case sticking. Ftc Chair Andrew Ferguson has said his lawyers are raring to go against Meta. That said, he also said he would obey lawful orders from the president. In other words, the start of the trial does not take a settlement off the time. The two sides could reach a settlement in the midst of the trial, though legal experts say it is highly unlikely. Big stakes legal trial, as was stated by others, others most likely going to go ahead. However, trump likes power. Trump likes to be the decider in all things and, deep down, I believe Trump's going to do something to settle with meta, unless Trump's vindictiveness wins out, which is a very strong possibility.
Speaker 1:Will the save act make it harder for married women to vote? Legal experts were asked as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, save, heads to the Senate. There has been growing debate on how the bill may affect voting for millions of married women, particularly those who have changed their last names, if it becomes law Now, the legislation known as the SAVE Act looks to make sweeping reforms on voter registration. It was introduced in response to fears about voter fraud. Though research has consistently showed that such incidents are exceedingly rare, not a significant factor in American elections. Among the most notable changes outlined in the bill is the requirement to prove US citizenship before registering to vote. Acceptable documents will include a birth certificate, us passport, naturalization paperwork and certain versions of the real ID that indicate citizenship. But so far, for many of the 69 million American women who have taken on their spouse's name, their birth certificates no longer match the names they use today. According to an analysis by the Progressive Center for American Progress Now, meanwhile, more than half of all Americans do not have a passport, according to a 2023 YouGov survey.
Speaker 1:Some lawmakers who oppose the SAVE Act argue that the bill could make it harder for married women to vote. This voter suppression bill will disenfranchise millions of voters, especially married women, democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said on social media. Now, meanwhile, supporters of the SAVE Act assert that the legislation orders states to determine what additional documents should be required when local voters have a discrepancy on their proof of citizenship document. Now the Democrats have been fear-mongering about this bill, have been saying if married women change their name they would not be able to vote. This is complete fallacy.
Speaker 1:White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said at a press conference on Friday, getting legal documents could be a challenge for some women. Legal experts told NPR that states can ease this potential hurdle by accepting secondary documents like a legal decree of a name change or a marriage certificate, but it might not fix the issue for all married people. Now. Tracy Thomas, she's a professor of constitutional law at the University of Akron, said the issue is that court decrees are uncommon, since they are generally not required for married individuals who want to change their name, while marriage certificates are more commonly used. Thomas said obtaining one may be especially challenging for women who have been married for a long time and may no longer have their marriage certificate readily available. Obtaining that marriage certificate is an additional cost, administrative burden, extra penalty that other voters do not have to do, said Thomas, who teaches voting rights and general equality. She added these might all seem like trivial costs, but they all add up. There's also time, delays and administrative inconvenience and burden at each step that creates more obstacles and discouragement to voting.
Speaker 1:Experts say the bill could lead to varying policies across states. Legal experts also worry that the ambiguity in the bill will lead to uneven policies across the country, meaning some states and municipalities will enforce stricter document requirements than others. Will marriage certificates be accepted equally across all jurisdictions? We don't know, because some marriage certificates have different types of information on them depending on the jurisdiction, said Keisha Middlemass, a professor in the Department of Political Science at Howard University. Now Middlemass is also a fellow in governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. Added that if the bill passes, it will take some time to identify where and how married women are being affected.
Speaker 1:The disenfranchisement we won't know about it until after the fact. She said it's not unusual for voting laws to take time to iron out issues and identify those affected. But the prospect of sweeping changes to voter registration also comes at a time when elections have been competitive. Middlemass notes that happens with every policy there's always hiccups. She said the challenge with changing voter laws is we've had very close elections in the last three cycles and so if you reduce the potential voters by one or two percent, that could change the outcome of the election. With clarification of this act, this could be easily resolved. But we know how things work in the Trump world and it's all about disenfranchising voters and lowering the potential of Democrats' votes to be counted. But, as was stated, with elections being so close, even losing several thousand women who were banned from voting could have devastating consequences in an election. And speaking of disenfranchising voters, there's this. Trump's election order could jeopardize hundreds of thousands of future mail ballots.
Speaker 1:The state of Washington has been allowing election officials to count mail ballots that don't make it to their office until after Election Day for more than 100 years now. It's a practice that could be prohibited in upcoming elections thanks to a sweeping executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month. All the way back in 1917, we started this tradition have since modified the language a little bit, said Stuart Holmes, the director of elections for Washington's secretary of state's office. Holmes said this grace period is something that many voters in Washington have come to rely on. In the last presidential election, state officials reported they counted more than 250,000 ballots that didn't make it to their offices until after Election Day, at no fault of the voters. There could be some unforeseen delay in getting that to the county auditor's office or otherwise, prevented to be received on election day. Holmes told NPR, and so Washington's had this long-standing tradition as long as we've been absentee voting to allow ballots to be received after election day and counted and included in the election results.
Speaker 1:According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 18 states, plus the Virgin Islands, puerto Rico and Washington DC, count mail-in ballots that are received by election officials after Election Day. Most states require the ballots to be postmarked by or before Election Day. States with a large share of mail ballots often take more time to count votes. Mail-in ballots take longer to process. Election officials are often counting ballots in the days after Election Day, regardless of whether the ballots made it back to them before or after in-person voting ends.
Speaker 1:Republicans have argued, without evidence, that the longer a state takes to count ballots after Election Day, the less secure their elections are. Misinformation about this, which proliferated after the 2020 election, has led to calls for limits to the counting of mail ballots. To that end, republicans have sought to eliminate these grace periods in states across the country, both through legislation and legal challenges. The success of those efforts have been mixed. This effort got a significant boost last month, however, when Trump signed an executive order that, among other things, specifically prohibits this practice. He cited voter fraud while signing the order. This will go a long way to ending it, trump said there are other steps it will be taking next in the coming weeks.
Speaker 1:Barbara Smith Warner, with the National Vote at Home Institute, which advocates for wider access to mail-in voting, said there's no proof that counting ballots after Election Day makes elections less secure. She said getting rid of these grace periods would mostly just trip up voters who are used to returning their ballots closer to Election Day. It's going to lead to voter confusion, wanner said, and ultimately, not only disenfranchisement of these folks, but the bigger term impact is going to be people being afraid to vote or thinking, okay, I'm afraid I'm going to do this wrong, so I'm just not going to do it at all, and it's going to keep people from voting. According to data provided to NPR, six states Alaska, illinois, maryland, nevada, ohio and Oregon, plus Washington DC, counted more than 170,000 mail-in ballots in total during the last presidential election that were received after Election Day. In California, where more than 13 million mail-in ballots were cast last year, voters have a week-long grace period.
Speaker 1:In Washington state, holmes said he and other officials in the state do not want their voters to lose access to voting because of issues with the post office. He said he anticipates that, if Trump's order stands, it would disproportionately affect rural voters across the country, as well as busy people who remembered to put their ballots in the mail closer to election day. The impacts for the voters would be substantial and significant, he said, like resulting in thousands, hundreds of thousands of ballots being rejected simply just based on timeliness alone. Whether Trump's order stands, though, is an open question. So far, there's been a slew of lawsuits filed against the Trump administration in response to this election order, including one recently filed by 19 states.
Speaker 1:Ultimately, warner says she thinks Trump will not be allowed to tell states they can't count mail ballots after Election Day. The president has no ability to tell the states how to run their election. She said this is actually in the Constitution, a right that is given to the states to determine how they run their elections. This is absolute garbage. This is ridiculous. The Republicans are doing everything in their power to eliminate thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of votes through silly comments about voter fraud, the election integrity, yada, yada, yada, sis, boom, bah garbage. I'm really getting sick and tired of this from Trump and the Republicans supporting him. Look how they've made people feel about elections not being secure. Look where we are now versus eight years ago and how bad it got over those eight years. You know what? Let's make things easier. The Electoral College, which everyone says it has to go away. Know what Gone? Popular vote wins period. Mary gets more votes than Bob. So would be it. She wins the election, but that will never fly with Republicans because they know they would lose in a general election, for the most part based on popularity wins. And finally, stepping away from the negative stories, the things we can't control, I'll share this story with you.
Speaker 1:Here's how to retrain your brain to crave movement more than screen time. This is by Diana Hill and Kathy Bowman. Clinical psychologist. Diana Hill, movement specialist Kathy Bowman, are the authors of I Know I Should Exercise, but 44 Reasons we Don't Move. How to Get Over them?
Speaker 1:When you're stressed or tired, it's too easy to escape into your phone and start scrolling. Sound familiar, but scanning through news headlines or arguments on social media may just stress you out more. Plus, more scrolling time is also more sedentary time, which can quickly compound feeling low. What if, instead, you could retrain your brain to crave physical activity for stress relief and a mood boost. Scrolling and using social media can feel good in the short term because they activate the brain's reward pathways, leading to dopamine release and contributing to feelings of pleasure or reinforcement. However, once that spike subsides, dopamine levels dip below baseline and contributing to feelings of pleasure or reinforcement. However, once that spike subsides, dopamine levels dip below baseline, leaving you feeling badly again, prompting you to go back for more More scrolling, more social media Interesting. In contrast, physical activity triggers a more gradual release of dopamine, alongside other mood-boosting, stress-busting neurochemicals that ease stress, depression, anxiety and cognitive overload. Minutes spent moving can also reduce fatigue, improve concentration, boost creativity.
Speaker 1:Movement gives more than it takes. You just have to learn to choose it. The concept of psychological flexibility can help you build a new habit of reaching for movement instead of your phone. It comes from acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT, a type of therapy that's been shown to be effective for health behavior change. It's the skill of opening up to uncomfortable emotions, thoughts and feelings, taking value-oriented action even in the face of inner obstacles. These two ladies provide six ways to try it, so you can stop the podcast, pull out a piece of paper you want or just rewind this at any point in the future. But there's some six important ways to deal with social media and how to not get caught up in the trap Ready.
Speaker 1:Number one surf the urge to scroll. The first step to moving more is training your brain to be emotionally flexible. If you want to stop acting impulsively every time you have an urge to grab the phone, start by noticing that urge, taking a pause. Urge surfing is a mindfulness tool used to help people with addictions cope with cravings without acting on them. Developed by smoking researcher Alan Marlatt, it involves staying present with your urge, noticing it rise and fall like a wave, without acting on it. Think of yourself as a flexible surfer, nimbly riding a wave of craving. As it grows, it peaks and it comes back down again. No matter how big the wave is, it will always come back down, and the more you practice urge surfing, the better you get at staying with it. Here's how to do it Notice the urge. Next time you want to hop on your phone and scroll, or, for a news binge, choose to wait it out a little longer.
Speaker 1:Pay attention to the feeling of craving in your body. What is the sensation of the urge like? Is it a rising feeling, a tingling feeling, a gnawing feeling? Where do you feel it? In your body? Your chest, your belly, your head? Stay with it. Ride out the urge, observing it grow or get stronger. What happens to the sensation if you don't act on it? Watch it change like a wave, don't fight it, don't add a story. Stay with the pure level of sensation, without adding a story like well, this feeling will never end or I can't handle this discomfort so I'll scroll. If you notice a story in your head like that, go back to paying attention to the sensation in your body again. Ride it like a surfer on a wave. Every urge you surf. You train your brain to get better at tolerating discomfort the precursor to getting yourself to move.
Speaker 1:Number two stretch, squat, dance while you surf on your phone. If you physically can't do any of that, wiggle your toes, stretch your fingers behind your neck, turn your neck left and right. What can you do during the minute or two you're riding the wave of phone? Craving Practice, a simple movement challenge. Research shows that going outside of your comfort zone, also called behavioral stretching, boosts life satisfaction, especially for people who are relatively less happy to start with. So stretching yourself to get active will give you an extra mood boost when you are low. The farther outside your comfort zone the dynamic activity is, the more life enhancing it can be. So go for the silly, skill building or challenging moves. Surfers don't just stand on their board, they carve, they snap, they cut back through the waves.
Speaker 1:Try it now, next time you have the surfing and you want to go on your phone, the urge to do the scrolling, surf that feeling, trying to stand on one leg for 30 seconds. Do five squats. Feel your muscles, activate or close your eyes. Reach your arms overhead, lift up on the tippy toes of both feet, try a big standing or seated back bend, raising the arms and arching your back as far as you can. Or pick a song from your playlist for a three-minute dance session or movement that leaves you a little out of breath. And again, for those of you not physically capable to do any of this, do something different physically Shake your hands, rock your head back and forth, lift your legs slightly up from the chair that you're sitting on. But change something with movement to take away that urge that you need to scroll on your phone and look at social media. If I have one more Wolfpack listener, write me or email me and tell me I don't listen to your podcast anymore because I'm overwhelmed with what's happening from Donald Trump and social media. And yet, a day or two later, I see them on social media all over Facebook groups posting memes, writing complaints, getting upset. So that's why I wanted to give this story to you. Listen to what the ladies are saying Ready.
Speaker 1:Step number three savor your favorite activities. When you intentionally savor things you value, like fun, adventure, community or creative expression, you can train your brain to want them more. This works for movement, too. Athletes who focus on the good feelings of their sport report lower levels of burnout and a healthier overall engagement. Start by identifying types of physical activity you find pleasurable, exciting or stimulating that are more satisfying and engaging than phone scrolling, playing ping pong, pickleball, zooming around on a bike, stretching on an aerial silk, having a dance party, taking a walk or run with your friends.
Speaker 1:Next, take a few minutes to savor the activity before, during or after the experience. Shift your attention to linger on the good feelings movement creates. Pay attention to things like the joy you get from a bout of play with your kid or grandchildren, the way your tissues feel as you're getting stronger after a workout, or the sound of laughter as you throw a frisbee with friends. Humans are wired to see the difficulty in things before spotting the good an effect called the negativity bias. So give yourself a little time. Spend 10 to 15 seconds savoring each of the positive aspects of the experience so it can be encoded in your nervous system. With a little repetition, the practice of savoring will train your brain to want to get out there and move. Try it now. Practice savoring now with a shoulder stretch. Reach your hands behind you, clasp them, pulling your shoulder blades together while letting your head nod forward. Then notice what you enjoy about it. Does it feel good on the neck or chest? Relaxes your breathing, rest your eyes, create peaceful feelings, linger on each discovery.
Speaker 1:Number four give familiar movements a makeover. The brain has evolved to seek out novelty. Movements a makeover. The brain has evolved to seek out novelty. The wiring propelled humans out exploring across the globe. But it also makes it hard to step away from an endless series of social media videos. Some of you are addicted and text me hundreds of videos about the crap that's happening our country in the world. Stop. If you already have movement modalities you enjoy. Perhaps plain old walking or biking is your preference because it's a cheap and convenient exercise, but they keep losing out to the phone. Make them more appealing by adding novelty. Try it now.
Speaker 1:Do you take the same walk every day? Get flexible with your behavior. Change up your route. Take a walk in a location with built-in surprises, like a new coffee shop, a sunset or street that you haven't been on with your favorite spring blooms. Add friends or meetups. Make taking a walk your first date, your planning meeting meetup or your parent association gathering. Then add some fresh challenges, like a weighted backpack, some push-ups every quarter mile, or some twists and stretches every quarter mile, or some sprints to end the block when you're walking. Do something different. Be creative.
Speaker 1:Number five turn worry into compassionate action. You can't solve the world's problems, especially with Donald Trump, by passively absorbing bad news. If you're scrolling because you care, because you want to stay informed and engaged, then let that care move you toward actively participating in solutions. Research indicates that transforming worry into compassionate action benefits both the people you help and your own well-being. The issues that weigh on you the most reflect what matters most in your heart. Instead of staying stuck in worry, ask yourself what topics in the news pull at me the most? What values do they threaten? How can I turn my concern into meaningful action? Let your answers guide you towards doing something taking physical action that moves your body and aligns with what you care about most.
Speaker 1:Try it now. Think of creative and physical ways to act on issues you care about. Worried about the environment, try walking, biking or other human-powered transportation. Work in a community garden. Join local restoration projects. If you care about children or families, consider volunteering in an after-school sports program or lifting boxes at your food bank. The weight of the world's global conflicts can be eased by starting a community walking group to discuss global issues. Organize a fundraising walk. When you transform the heaviness of the world into physical action, you'll feel less powerless.
Speaker 1:Finally, number six take the news to go when it seems like your values are in conflict. I value staying informed and I value moving my body. Well, it only means you haven't yet discovered where these values can overlap. You might be turning to the phone because life feels uncertain and being informed makes you feel grounded, but research shows there's another place to head outside, to move. Combining movement with nature can offer you the respite you've been looking for. As the kids say, touch grass. Okay, wolfpack listeners, try it now. Step outside, take off your shoes, feel the ground beneath you. My girlfriend does that. She takes off her shoes and stands in the ground and the dirt in our backyard and it makes her feel great. Savor the greenery, and you don't always have to leave the phone behind. Simply mix up your behavior and choose to walk or roll. Savor the greenery, and you don't always have to leave the phone behind. Simply mix up your behavior and choose to walk or roll, while listening to quality discussions with longer formats, soothing voices that offer stepwise solutions, like my podcast. Just joking, let the act of moving your body in nature remind you that you are part of the world that you are worried about and that your physical activity can be part of taking action.
Speaker 1:I truly hope some of the Wolfpack listeners can apply this information from Diana Hill and Kathy Bowman. Replay that part of the podcast. Go over it again. Write it down. Implement that. Stop surfing and scrolling on your phone so much daily. Stop spending dozens of hours each week on social media. Take it in smaller bites. People. I hope I'm wrong, but I think the majority of the listeners can't break this habit.
Speaker 1:If you have any comments on this, say hello. Take a minute out of your day to send me a text, an email or a voice message. I'm not asking for a lot from you. You spend hours on social media. Take time to say hello. Would love to hear from more than two people each week sending me comments on information in this podcast, especially after this last story I just told you about. You have the email. You have the phone number. You can reach me on Blue Sky. If you're not sure, listen to a previous episode. I'll be back again in two days. This is a world gone mad. I'm Jeff Fallon wolf. Without your comments, your feedback and your engagement, I'm sitting in a room talking to myself. Stay hopeful. This is a world gone mad.
